ColoradoCool Apparel at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

First off, I don’t know how this isn’t a better known Colorado destination...its epic. I had heard of it in passing but had no idea how amazing it is. If you are looking for some amazing outdoor Colorado scenery, this should be near the top of the list. Especially if you want to see something very unique. We were cruising from NoCo down to the San Juans and wanted to scope something dope on the way down there... the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park was the perfect choice. Now, as I say “National Park”, I know what you’re all thinking, great scenery but way too crowded. I feel you, that’s why we left in the middle of the night and arrived at about 545, just as first daylight hit. This left us about half an hour to find a nice spot to watch that beautiful Colorado sunrise. If you’re game to get in gear nice and early you can have the place to yourself and its well worth it.

The depth of the Black Canyon is insane (deepest point-Warner Point-2,722 feet), with a flowing river at the bottom that echoes through the canyon, clearly audible even at the top. What is awesome about this spot is how unique it is, normally with outdoor Colorado destinations you're looking out on incredible mountain ranges (which never gets old), but to experience looking at something so different was really cool. 

Its really cool being able to hear the sound of the river echo up the Black Canyon from so far down, it adds a lot to the feel of the place. The texture of the enormous rock walls is also amazing, definitely inspired some new design ideas. Looking at something so sick reminded me a lot of all the epic designs on so many of the ColoradoCool products...especially the Cliffside tank which features a giant rock wall. 

The “painted wall” its particularly epic, with long, thick contrasting lines running throughout the wall. The canyon seems to go forever (total length is 48 miles) and the overlapping rock walls enhance the depth in a really cool way, making for some unbelievable views, I can’t say enough good things about it.

As our primary destination was the San Juans, we didn’t camp at the Black Canyon or hike down, but after scoping it for a few hours we’ve added it to our list of coveted Colorado camping destinations. We started at the south rim and watched the sunrise from there, then drove through the park, stopping at each of the overlook stops. Word of advice, stop at ALL of them. Some of them are so close together that it seems repetitive, but its not at all. The canyon’s walls change depth and vary in texture and shape a lot so each of the overlook pulloffs is different from the next. Some of them have paths that are a few hundred (I think six hundred was the longest) yards, which makes for a nice way to stretch your legs if you don’t have time for a real hike. 

We were really stoked that we stopped by the Black Canyon on our way to the San Juans and would recommend it to anyone driving through Colorado looking for an awesome place to take in some cool Colorado scenery!

Anyone who has camped/hiked at the Black Canyon, hit us up on social, we’d love to hear about it and get some tips for our next, longer trip there!

Cheers,

ColoradoCool Apparel